The court in the welding fume MDL litigation has dismissed the claims of the  plaintiff who had been chosen for the seventh bellwether trial in this national consolidated welding fume products liability litigation. In re: Welding Fume Products Liability Litigation [Ernest Ray, No. 04-18252], MDL 1535, No. 03-17000, N.D. Ohio.

Plaintiff Ray had moved to dismiss his claim, with prejudice, last November. Thousands of claims have been dismissed in this litigation, so why post about this one?  A reminder to readers of MassTortDefense to travel all lanes of the information superhighway in doing fact investigation, including the so-popular social media hubs.

It appears that plaintiffs were forced to move to dismiss the Ray case after plaintiff’s claims of severe disability were refuted by Internet (specifically Facebook) photos discovered by defendants that appeared to show plaintiff competing in strenuous high-speed powerboat races.

In 2006, the MDL Court implemented a new case evaluation process to try to ensure that only “trial-worthy” cases reached the later stages of pre-trial litigation. This process, which required medical records collection and a certification by plaintiffs’ attorneys that cases were trial‐worthy, prompted plaintiffs to dismiss thousands of cases.  Even with that, this is about the sixth trial-ready case plaintiffs have been forced to dismiss due to revelations in discovery.

Appropriate review of public web sites requires no disclosure to opposing counsel, and can be done relatively cheaply. Today’s technology, via the Internet, can result in a wealth of information on the opposing party or witness.  Web sites like the popular myspace.com and facebook.com can now provide a profile of a witness or opposing party, or, like here, information on interests and activities. An individual might have posted comments about his condition, as well. Good luck surfing!